I Don't Need A Hero Anymore
by Moogle Princess
Summary: After an ordinary day, Tifa turns to find a familiar face at the door to her bar. What does he want?


I Don't Need A Hero Anymore

By: Kuppo the Moogle Princess

Disclaimer: Have any of you ever thought about what a disclaimer really is? These things are basically made to show off that Squaresoft owns all the Final Fantasy games and that none of us regular moogles could ever have it! 

So have you ever thought about it? 

*crickets* 

Just me huh? Eh heh heh heh…

@~`~,~~

The night air was cool as Tifa Lockheart pulled the door to her bar open. She leaned against the doorframe for a moment just looking up at the stars that flickered in the night sky like little candles. It had been only ten years before that she had sat under stars just like these in the very same little town and asked one young boy to be her hero.

The same boy Tifa hadn't seen in three years.

Tifa pushed all thoughts of Cloud Strife out of her mind and set to work closing the bar she had opened in Nibelhiem. She touched the door to push it shut but couldn't bear to close the door on such a nice night. Popping a few coins into the jukebox, Tifa pushed the buttons to play an upbeat song. 

Singing along with the music, Tifa wiped down a table in the corner putting up a chair on the table. As she put the last chair up, the sound of footsteps on the deck outside the door rang in her ears. 

"I'm closed!" Tifa called without turning to meet her visitor, "Be open again in the morning!"

"Tifa."

In that single word, Tifa felt her entire world shatter. She spun to meet a familiar pair of blue eyes that glowed in the dimness of her bar. He smiled slightly and scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture Tifa remembered all too well.

"Can… can I come in?" Cloud asked quietly.

Tifa nodded. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to form proper words just yet. Cloud walked in looking around the little bar in admiration and some surprise. She could also detect a little disgust as well.

"You came back here."

It was a statement, not a question. She realized that the disgust in his eyes came from her return to the place Shinra had constructed to cover up what Sephiroth had done. Tifa clenched her fists behind her back.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go."

Tifa couldn't help but sound a little bitter. She watched Cloud look away and was glad that he felt bad for what he had done to her. Only two days after Meteor had disappeared and Sephiroth had been defeated, Cloud vanished without a word to anyone. 

Tifa had been heartbroken. She had been about to go looking for him when Cid told her that the Lunar Harp had vanished with him. Tifa knew he had gone north to the City of the Ancients.

He had gone to Aeris.

In three years she hadn't heard a single word from him. No one had seen him in all that time. Now here he stood studying his feet as if they were the most interesting things on the entire Planet.

"I'm sorry."

Anger bubbled up inside Tifa until she thought she'd burst. She clenched her hands so tightly that her nails cut through the worn material of her gloves. Three years of the hurt, anger, and betrayal she had suffered boiled up inside of her until she exploded.

"Three years and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'!?" Tifa screamed nearly knocking one of the chairs off the table, "All this time and you haven't sent me any word that you were alive! I kept my PHS and I know you still have yours! Why couldn't you just call me and say that you were okay!?"

Tifa found herself standing in front of the blonde-haired mercenary looking up into his face. The very face she had found so handsome once upon a time. Now lines of grief and worry were etched deep into his skin. Dark circles under his eyes told of many sleepless nights. He was thinner and paler than Tifa remembered him, almost in a sickly way.

"I just…couldn't." Cloud whispered.

"You couldn't!?" Tifa spat angrily, "You _couldn't _!?"

Before she could stop herself, one fist met with Cloud's jaw. He was knocked backwards onto the floor from the sheer power of the punch. He watched her with wide eyes from the ground.

"What were you doing all that time Cloud!?" Tifa asked turning away from him and walking to the door. She wanted to be away from him in case she felt the urge to punch him again.

"I deserved that." Cloud muttered. After he was sure Tifa hadn't broken his jaw, he got back up and said, "I… I was searching for Aeris. I found her… a few months ago. Tifa, she was just like I remembered, smiling and laughing."

The old flare of jealousy that Tifa always felt when she knew Cloud was thinking about Aeris came back stronger than it ever had. Tifa had to grab onto the doorframe to keep from turning around and pounding Cloud into the floor.

"She laughed at me most." Cloud said a little sadly, "Aeris said that I was always too blind to see what was right in front of me. She told me to come back to where it all had started, to think back to my childhood fairy tale."

Cloud shifted uncomfortably when Tifa still stood with her back to him, "I went to Midgar first… I thought she meant go back to where she and I had first met and where I had tried to join Soldier. I couldn't get very far into the ruins… I found Aeris's church though. It's the only building still standing. The flowers still grow there too.

"That's when I thought back further. I tried to decipher the meaning of what Aeris had said." Cloud continued slowing heading toward Tifa, "I remembered why I joined Soldier in the first place. It was to impress you… to prove myself to you."

He stood looking out the door over her shoulder, "Remember the night we sat on the water tower and I made you that promise?"

Tifa sighed sadly, "How could I forget?"

"I wanted to tell you I was joining Soldier for you." Cloud admitted sheepishly, "I was such a wimp. But that's when it all made sense. There's always a hero and his girl in a fairy tale… and… well… I'm your hero… remember?"

Tifa was silent for a few minutes. She just stared up at the water tower remembering the night she had snuck out after curfew just to meet Cloud. She'd do anything for him back then, but now…

"I don't need a hero anymore Cloud."

She felt Cloud step back, could feel his eyes blazing into her back, but she couldn't turn around to face him. Tifa knew she wouldn't be able to say what she needed to if she looked into his eyes and saw how much she was hurting him.

"I've learned to stand on my own again." Tifa continued slowly, unsure of just what to say, "You can't keep appearing from thin air and throwing my life into chaos. You think you love me, but you're not sure, so you run off in search of someone who's dead. I've been here all along…"

"But Tifa, I do lo-"

"Don't!" Tifa cried cutting him off, "I don't want to hear you say it. Not now. Not after all this time."

Cloud spun her around to face him and searched her eyes, "What do you want from me Tifa?"

"I want you to be who you were!" Tifa cried pulling away from him, "I want you to be the man I fell in love with! But you'll never be him again! Not ever… too much has happened. You've changed too much… I've changed too…"

"So that's it?" Cloud asked angry and hurt, "That's all!?"

Tifa sighed and nodded, "I want all of you… I want all your heart. I'll never have it though. Some of it will always belong to Aeris. She could tell you that she married Sephiroth in her Promised Land and you'd still love her. If I don't have all of you, then I don't want any of you."

Cloud stared at Tifa for a few moments longer before he pushed past her and disappeared into the night again. A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed the door to her bar. The night no longer seemed nice. 

Her body was numb as she started to put the chairs up again. The jukebox had long since stopped playing and the silence was nearly deafening. Suddenly all her strength left her. Tifa broke down and cried for the first time since the day that Aeris had died.

Sinking into a chair, Tifa sobbed onto the table for what seemed like hours. She couldn't believe she'd actually sent Cloud away. Tifa knew she'd never see him again, not after what she'd said. But terrible or not, she had meant every word she had said. If she couldn't have all of him, then she didn't want any of him.

Finally the sobs that wracked her body tapered off into sniffles and the occasional little hiccup. Slowly she sat up and looked around her. In the dim glow of the fluorescent lights, the bar seemed to brighten up. Tifa realized everything in that bar was hers because she saved the money to buy it. No one had helped her start her bar or keep it in business.

Tifa stood and looked at the little bar proudly. It wasn't much, but it was hers. That thought made her stand a little taller and hold her head a little higher. She untied the apron that was wrapped around her waist and used it to wipe her teary eyes. She left it on the bar and pulled on her jacket.

At the door, Tifa paused and smiled before flicking the light switch off. It would be hard, but she'd keep going on her own. The pain would almost kill her the next morning, but she wouldn't let it stop her. Tifa knew she'd been strong before, and she could do it again.

As she walked down the starlit street to her small house on the edge of town, she felt a little better than she had in a long time. She never noticed the pair of blue eyes that watched her walk away before disappearing into the night again.

@~`~,~~

Moogle Notes: I was kinda having an un-fun night. My first speech meet is tomorrow and my voice isn't quite in working order… *sigh* This whole day was bad and it was sort of reflected in my writing I guess…

But anyway… thank you to anyone who made it here and a kupo nut to any of you who'll review! Also big thanks to my editor Kaye-Kaye. I know I have to poke you to get you to tell me what you really think of my writing, but you're really great anyway. 

So good night… or morning… whatever it may be in your world.

-Kuppo


End file.
